Guest bloger Brent Swancer looks at what this Japanese cryptid could be other than domestic cats or dogs. The best bet: a clouded leopard. Also, a link to an Orang Pendek documentary. And if you are interested in further twilight language analyses merging into film Forteana, see Suicidal Dwarfs, Jokers And All That.

When a couple in the Highlands heard some commotion in the water one night, they used their car headlights and the flash from their camera to check their footing as they descended the rocky shores of the loch--and may have accidentally taken a photograph of the Loch Ness Monster in the process, or not. Adrian Shine says "the account sounds not inconsistent with an animal such as an otter going into the loch." But what exactly did the camera capture in the photograph?

Friday, February 06, 2009

This was a pretty terrific show, with Scott Hackenslash starting it off with Movie News and Reviews on the new Friday the 13th movie coming out next Friday, as well as the trailers shown during the Super Bowl for G.I. Joe, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and Land of The Lost. The guest was Norm Gagnon, a Paranormal researcher and member of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, who discussed his investigations into ghosts, UFOs, Cryptids and other strange phenomenon. Callers such as myself, Bill Green and Brian Seech were on the air, and they asked some great questions. Next Friday, a Ghost Investigator whose name I cannot remember will join Sean and Eric starting at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central. And as always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

A little more than a year after the first report of mysterious objects over Stephenville, more witnesses are coming forth. Unknown objects continue to be reported flying in the skies over Erath County, Texas. Of course, Texas should not consider itself privileged, as the objects are also being seen in the UK, and Argentina, and Australia: Territory UFOs on 20-year round trip.

Is there a large mystery cat roaming the jungles of Japan’s Iriomote Island? A guest blog by Brent Swancer: "The only two types of cat known to exist on the island are the endemic Iriomote wildcat, and introduced house cats, yet it seems fairly obvious from physical descriptions of the mystery animal that what is being seen is neither of these." See also, Eagles Attack Mojo and Plan Now For Texas BFCon ‘09.

Workers widening a highway may have upset more than the local residents. A motorist said she was stunned to see a large black feline prowling just yards from the roadside at around 3pm last Thursday afternoon. Elsewhere, when a professional artist spotted a big black cat near his home in Montcoffer, he made a life-sized cardboard replica of the beast: The Beast is back! More on the subject of these mysterious felines in Big cats in Teesside? and Is this paw print proof of a big cat roaming in Derbyshire?

Richard Freeman lays out six categories, based upon his realization that "All around the world it seems very specific kinds of monster archetype are seen again and again in every culture. Each civilization will have combinations of these monsters in its culture. I call this the Global Monster Template." Elsewhere, Jon Downes blogs about The Father of all the Turtles and Richard Muirhead does the same for The Ropen-a living pterosaur in Melanesia?

I have decided to forego a show for this Sunday because my guest will be unavailable. We will shoot for Sunday, February 15th, 9:30 EST/8:30 Central. My next show will be then. Thanks for your understanding and support.

This was a terrific episode, with guest Jordan Warner, who discussed his projects and his interest in all things Crypto, as well as of course Cryptid Hunt, his Youtube monthly series. He discussed his interest from age 8 to current day (he is 15 years old), which began when he saw a special on the History Channel titled Bigfoot and Other Monsters that his father was watching. I called in and asked Jordan about future projects after Bigfoot, and his future projects include episodes on the Beast of Gevaudan, the Almas, The Yeti, Nessie and other cryptids. I also let my niece Jeanie talk to the hosts of the show, Melissa and Monica. She enjoyed it. A fast-talking individual who runs Cryptozoology.com named Nick called in and complimented Jordan on his series and his stick-to-it-tiveness. Dunno what Mel and Mon have planned for February 18th, but it begins at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central. And as always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

The premise of this episode is that Nessie may be buried at the bottom of Loch Ness.

The Loch is 23 Miles long and nearly 800 feet deep. 155 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland.

Witnesses are interviewed on their encounters, an animal 25-30 feet in length. Robert Rines had a sighting in 1972 while visiting a friend. He described the texture as between an elephant and whale. He compared the beast to a nearby fishing boat and found it to be 25 feet in length. Rines holds more than 80 patents in sonar technology. The number of encounters with Nessie has decreased in recent years, more particularly on sonar.

This scan was done in 2005, and brought about a conclusion that Nessie creatures died and are no longer living in the water.

A photo taken by an ROV (Remote Operating Vehicle) found a dead carcass of something in the bottom of the lake, which may be a carcass of Nessie. A MQ expedition is undertaken to search different locations on the lake to find proof of alive or dead creatures.

Forward-looking sonar is being used to scan the lake at the bottom.

Supervisor for Seatrepid John Nail is along to supervise the underwater cameras. He is an ROV pilot.

Urquhart Castle on the west side of the lake is targeted first to find any sign of the creatures. It is a location of many sightings.

The sonar equipment on the ROV can pick up things even in the murky water.

Gordon Holmes, an amateur researcher, says that he had a sighting in 2007 which may have been Nessie and that it is alive and well. This is the famous video which was shown on CNN a couple of years ago.

He apparently filmed two swimming objects which may or may not be two creatures. Holmes uses a small remote-control boat to capture images, while a part-time Cryptozoologist, Craig Fackrell, uses one of the most basic animal instincts used to lure one in-a fish cam.

John Northcoate, a 14-year boat captain, drives the vessel which drags the lure behind it.

Older photos from the '70's are also examined, which appear to show "Nessie."

The first written account is from 565 A.D. The Surgeon's photo, which was later revealed to be a hoax, is also discussed and shown.

Adrian Shine, a naturalist, is interviewed and discusses the hoax, a fellow named Marmaduke Weatherell took the faked photo.

Weatherell also faked some footprints with a hippopotamus ashtray.

Another photo, of humps, turned out to be straw bales covered with tarpaulin.

A photo from 1975 taken by Rines turned out to be not a hoax.

Dr. Alan Gillespie was the initial examiner of the photo and determined it to be inconclusive, but not a hoax.

Dr. Aubrey Manning, a zoology professor at University of Edinburgh, also examined the photo and believes it to be real, even of a plesiosaur possibly.

Dr. Leslie Noe, the curator of Natural Science at Birmingham Science Museum and a paleontologist for over 20 years, is an expert on the plesiosaur, and examines the Rines photo. He is a bit skeptical of the photo showing a plesiosaur, but is open-minded to the possibility of the creature existing.

Adrian Hall, a glaciologist, is an expert in the study of land forms, and believes that the reason a sea creature ended up in Loch Ness is that the surrounding sea levels for the past 10,000 years have been lower than the loch itself, which is 52 feet above sea level. A time window could have existed which could have supported the possibility of marine animals getting into the loch when the loch merged with the sea, including Nessie.

Robert Rines made a discovery a shell, a marine shell, while bringing up an anchor with clay on it from the bottom of the lake.

Dr. Tom Guilderson, a senior staff scientist at the Lawrence Livermore Labs in California, tested the shell and its time rate to see the age of it. It was determined to be over 14,000 years old, which would put it in the window of the ice melting from the land mass and forming the lake.

Witnesses are interviewed, the evidence is in, and it shows-well, I won't give too much away. Next week, Monsterquest examines the phenomenon of the Skinwalkers in an episode titled Cattle Killers, 9:00 EST/8:00 Central on History. Check local listings for time and channel.

"They’re young, usually teens or slightly younger. They insist on coming inside your house to use the bathroom, the telephone or just for a drink of water. But for some reason you’re afraid. Why? They’re just kids. Then you notice their eyes – black, as if the pupil had poured over its banks."

However, before that, History is running an all-day Monsterquest marathon. Here is the description:

DEATH OF LOCH NESS

The search for the Loch Ness Monster has captivated the world for decades, but now a startling realization about "Nessie" might shatter this age-old myth. Could the Loch Ness Monster be dead? And do its remains lie hidden at the bottom of the lake? Robert Rines, a world-renowned inventor and explorer has spent much of his life searching for Nessie. He believes he may have seen the remains of this mythical beast while mapping the lake floor with sonar. Now he is on a mission to find scientific evidence to prove it. Rines, who says he saw the creature surface in the lake in 1972, now believes that the images explain the recent decrease in sightings, and that they can only mean only one thing: Nessie is dead. MonsterQuest's search team travels to the lake looking for evidence and deploying the latest technology including remote operating vehicles (ROVs), sonar and specialty cameras as we search for Nessie's remains.

9:00 EST/8:00 Central on History. Check local listings for time and channel.

Bigfoot Quest was pretty good tonight, with no callers that I know of but the members of the Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center sitting in and discussing their recent expedition in Oklahoma where they saw and heard some unusual things. They discussed activity on Doug Bilby (Bulletmaker's) property, and also a good bit about their research. Dunno what Bob and Mike have planned for next week, but it begins at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 Shows airing at once!!!

On the Sasquatch Triangle Don welcomes the founder of the American Bigfoot Society the Forkchop himself, Sean Forker, beginning at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central. At the same time, on the Grey Area Melissa and Monica welcome Jordan Warner (Cryptid Hunt). Finally, on Campfire Shadows Shane McMahon (no relation to the heir apparent to World Wrestling Entertainment) welcomes author/researcher Kathy Strain beginning at 10:00 EST/9:00 Central. And as always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

Update: Kathy Strain will be the guest on Campfire Shadows on February 18th.

The latest issue features an interview with JZ Knight, an article on Nazis in South America, as well as psychic predictions for 2009, and an article entitled "Presidential Bigfoot: Teddy and the Yeti," which has a nice ring to it. Some article teasers available online. Elsewhere, at the Rhine Research Center, the free Rhine On-Line newsletter features articles on sports psi and "A New Idea of ESP" by Jim Carpenter, among others. (Direct link to pdf.)

A Jämtland county council order banning cameras on the shores of Storsjön in Östersund in northern Sweden has forced those doing camera surveillance of Sweden's legendary Great Lake Sea Monster (Storsjöodjure) to seek permission of the council. Permission was granted as long as the cameras are located under the water surface of the lake.

This 3-Disc set brings us 25 of the greatest matches from the premiere event in the National Wrestling Alliance (later World Championship Wrestling). It starts off with a documentary on the history of the event, with some of the participants in the event, such as Nature Boy Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, The American Dream Dusty Rhodes, David Crockett, Jim Cornette, Road Warrior Animal and others. The matches feature Superstars such as Flair, Harley Race, Big Van Vader, Sting, Greg "The Hammer Valentine vs. "Rowdy' Roddy Piper in a brutal Dog Collar Match, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Magnum T.A., Rhodes, Stunning Steve Austin, The Great Muta, Bill Goldberg, Kevin Nash, The Total Package Lex Luger, The Road Warriors, The Midnight Express, The Rock 'N Roll Express, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Barry Windham, Shane Douglas, Brian Pillman and more. Championship matches, I Quit contests and scaffold wars are also featured in this set, and the top 25 are some of the best to be picked. I would give this 5 out of 5 stars. Get this one!!!

Monday, February 02, 2009

Please join your hosts Bob Coyne and Mike Killen as we welcome MABRC researchers who are just back from a January expedition. We'll get a report on what they experienced on Doug "Bulletmaker" Bilby's property. This is sure to be an interesting and entertaining show. If you're able, please join us in our show chat room. It's always a lot of fun and we love to interact live with our listeners.

This was a GREAT show, with guest Rick Osman, who discussed his research into Sasquatch, as well as his working with a company that designs cameras, and he discussed a good bit about IR and Nite-Vision Cameras as well. He himself has never seen a Sasquatch, but has found tracks and believes he has been close to one. Bill Green was the first caller, and asked his standard questions and also about the latest bit of research Rick has done. I called in as well and alerted the hosts as to the upcoming season of Monsterquest as well as asking Rick his theory on infrasound and also about Bill Dranginis' Eye-Gotcha Cam. Next week, Billy and DB welcome Eric Altman to the program, beginning at 9:00 EST/8:00 Central. And as always, we encourage you to please tune in and support great research.

Alan Friswell, who does stop-motion animation special effects, tells us how a cryptozoological expedition that led to the discovery and classification of a new species was subsequently responsible for the creation of the most famous fantasy film in cinema history--King Kong. Also, read about Parannormal Magazine editor Richard Holland's encounter with A Cuddly Cryptid. And check out the most recent episode of Jon Downes' videoblog On the Track.